Stroke is a major killer and a cause of severe neurological deficits and disability. Due to the narrow time window available to manage the stroke patient, the processing of stroke images must be done very rapidly. Magnetic resonance diffusion and perfusion imaging (also referred to as Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI) plays a key role in the assessment of infarcted tissues, and those at risk.
Diffusion imaging is an imaging technique where image contrast is related to the diffusion coefficient of the molecules being imaged. Perfusion imaging maps distribution of blood in the tissue.
Magnetic resonance diffusion and perfusion images have usually low resolution, high noise, and substantial intensity inhomogeneity. Moreover, some parts of the brain region may be missing due to susceptibility artifacts. Therefore, it is difficult to arrive at a reliable diagnosis based purely on image processing and analysis techniques. More importantly, the underlying anatomy and blood supply territories are not available for perfusion and diffusion images.